


bring me in from out the cold

by swallowthewhale



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: happy killervibe weekend!, the classic huddling for warmth trope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-23
Updated: 2017-09-24
Packaged: 2019-01-04 14:37:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12170868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swallowthewhale/pseuds/swallowthewhale
Summary: Two times Cisco and Caitlin need to hole up in Star Labs.





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey.” Caitlin nudges Cisco’s arm where it’s propping up his head. “I’m going home.”

Cisco’s chin slips off his hand and he jerks upright. “Already?”

She rolls her eyes. “Cisco, it’s nearly seven. You should go home too. You need some sleep.”

He scrubs his hands over his face. “Okay, fine.”

Caitlin hovers while he puts away his tools and tucks his tablet into his bag. “Do you want a ride?”

Cisco almost gives in. “Nah,” he says instead. “I’m out of your way.”

She gives him the look that means it’s not out of her way if she offered, but doesn’t say anything. They walk silently, shoulder to shoulder, up to the lobby, and come to a dead stop in front of the glass doors. It’s completely white outside, and there are already three inches of snow piled in front of the door.

“Was there snow in the forecast?” Caitlin asks without looking away.

“Nope,” Cisco says equally nonchalantly. “Not even rain.”

Caitlin sighs and starts pulling on her coat.

“No, wait, hey,” Cisco says, putting a hand on her arm. “You shouldn’t drive in this.”

Caitlin eyes him shrewdly. “Then how am I going to go home?”

The lights flicker ominously and Cisco stares up at the ceiling as he says, “I think we’re both stuck here.”

They gather all the candles, blankets, and pillows they can find, as well as Cisco’s considerable collection of sweatshirts that he’s left in various places around the building, and hole up in the old break room. Cisco added a pull-out couch a long time ago, and Caitlin had stocked the fridge recently enough that they have enough jell-o to last the night.

“Score!” Cisco yells with his head in the cabinet. “Hot chocolate!”

Caitlin puts the kettle on the stove as Cisco dumps his findings on the counter next to her. Hot chocolate packets, mini marshmallows, a half-empty bottle of rum, a can of whipped cream, and maraschino cherries.

“That’s a lot of sugar,” Caitlin says drily. 

Cisco elbows her. “What fun is a sleepover without sugar?”

She hides her face in the cabinet, reaching for the mugs. “I’ve never had a sleepover.”

Cisco grins, though. “It’s never too late!” He bounds over to the couch. “Let’s make a pillow fort!”

The electricity lasts long enough for them to make it through the construction of a rather epic pillow fort, two Disney sing-a-longs (“what kind of sleepover doesn’t have a sing-a-long?”), and three rounds of hot chocolate. They light the candles and Cisco curls up on the couch, patting the spot next to him.

“It’s freezing in here.”

Caitlin lies on her back, hands under her chin. “I had a date tonight,” she admits.

Cisco sits up. “What?”

“I’m kind of glad I had an excuse to cancel. Is that a bad thing?”

He relaxes back into the couch. “I don’t know. Have you met him before?”

Caitlin shakes her head. “It’s through an app.”

Cisco stifles a laugh. “I don’t see you as the online dating type.”

She giggles. “No, me neither. Iris thought it was a good idea and I just went along with it.”

Cisco slides back down to face her. “Are you actually ready to date again?”

She shrugs. “Maybe. Maybe with the right person.”

The opportunity is right there. Candlelight and everything. Cisco wimps out, holds out his arm instead. Caitlin scoots over to tuck herself into his side, his arm around her shoulder, his nose in her hair.

“You’re right,” she says. “It’s freezing in here.”


	2. Chapter 2

The emergency shutdown alarm starts blaring at the exact moment that Caitlin is shrugging her jacket on. Cisco looks up from his computer, catches her eye, and looks away again, scooting upright and tapping at the keyboard.

“Security breach in the pipeline,” he announces to the room, although the room consists of only him and Caitlin. “I’ll go check it out.”

Caitlin barely hesitates before tossing her jacket over the back of her chair. (She would have hung it up, before, Cisco thinks.) “I should go with you.”

Her voice is super casual, like it’s totally normal for them to both go check out what’s likely a computer malfunction after she disappeared for six months. Cisco only nods, and leads the way down to the pipeline with his flashlight.

They stand shoulder to shoulder at the mouth of the pipeline for a moment, and if Cisco doesn’t look over at her, it feels like the million other times they’ve stood there.

“I need to check the internal computers,” he finally says. “That’s where the breach registered.”

Caitlin doesn’t say anything, just takes the first step forward and doesn’t wait for Cisco to follow.

Luckily, it’s just a malfunction. Lucky both because a real security breach would suck and also because Cisco’s hands are shaking so hard he’s not sure he’d be of any use if it was real. “False alarm,” he says. “But we’ll be on lockdown for the next twelve hours anyway.”

“I remember,” Caitlin says absently, her arms crossed tight over her chest as she stares out into the track.

“We should go back upstairs.” Cisco stops himself short. Caitlin doesn’t need him to tell her what to do. “There’re some blankets and food in the break room still.”

Caitlin casts a critical gaze on him. “Have you been sleeping there again?”

Cisco stares back defiantly. She lost all rights to be concerned about his wellbeing when she left. “Coming?”

Caitlin very nearly rolls her eyes. But she pushes off the wall and leads the way out of the pipeline and back up to the break room.

Cisco stands in the doorway for a long moment, watching with his heart in his stomach as Caitlin methodically piles blankets on the couch. He can still remember the last time they spent the night in this room as vividly as if it was yesterday. Sometimes he still dreams about doing it differently.

Caitlin glances at him and his limbs unfreeze. “I think Iris left some burritos in the fridge,” he says, skirting around the couch. “Want one?”

Caitlin half-shrugs, which means yes, so he plops them on a plate and watches as they spin around the microwave. They eat in complete silence, and not for the first time since Caitlin came back, Cisco realizes like a punch to the stomach how much he misses his best friend.

Caitlin disappears while Cisco unfolds the couch into a bed and returns in stretchy yoga pants and one of Cisco’s sweatshirts. She curls up into the corner of the couch with her head on the arm and puts on one of her boring nature documentaries. Well, Cisco thinks, I guess she hasn’t changed that much. He stares for a second longer at his super-secret Girl Scout Cookie hiding spot, which he has to relocate every other week because Wally has an uncanny knack for finding them, before pulling out the thin mints, Caitlin’s favorite.

“Want to do me up some frozen thin mints?” he asks coyly, plopping down next to her and holding out the package.

Caitlin looks at the proffered cookies, up at Cisco’s wide grin, back down at the cookies, rolls her eyes and touches a finger to the box, instantly frosting up the foil.

“Sweet,” Cisco says, and settles the cookies between them so Caitlin can sneak them at her leisure.

It doesn’t take long for the temperature to drop, because emergency protocols dictate that all available power is diverted to the most important areas, heat not being one of them. 

Cisco pulls a blanket over his lap and takes a gamble. “I miss Ronnie.”

Caitlin, surprisingly, laughs, the sound bouncing off the walls. “Me too.” Her smile fades. “Me too.”

Cisco hugs his knees and Caitlin can feel him watching her. 

“I missed you, you know,” she tells the wall. 

Cisco shifts. “I didn't go anywhere.”

“I know,” she says. “I missed you when I left.”

“You could have come back.”

“I know,” she says again. 

“You said you never loved any of us,” he says quietly, almost to himself. 

Caitlin peeks at him, and he's watching her with bottomless eyes. He blinks slowly and the spell breaks. She jerks her eyes away. “I lied.”

“We should probably huddle for warmth,” Cisco says.

Caitlin looks at him. “I’m not cold,” she replies, but scoots over anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on tumblr @ swallowthewhale


End file.
